CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

In this episode, we discuss: Obstacles to the science of spiritual practice - limitations of a materialist view Engagement with the Indian tradition and how it helped him return to Christianity Intention of a pilgrimage and how it differs from being a tourist The interplay of form and energy and the common ground with a Trinitarian view Human genome project - what we know and don't know (e.g. shape, form, instincts) The brain as a mediator and not the cause His book Science and Spiritual Practicesand how science helps validate seven practices on which all religions are built and spiritual practices in a secular world Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author of more than eighty-five technical papers and eight books, including Science and Spiritual Prcatices, and the co-author of six books. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University, a Research Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Frank Know Fellow at Harvard. He worked in India as Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute ICRISAT, and also lived for two years in the Benedictine ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths in Tamil Nadu. From 2005-2010, he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for the study of unexplained human and animal abilities, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and of Schumacher College in Devon, England. He lives in London and is married to Jill Purce, with whom he has two sons. His web site is www.sheldrake.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Role of his travels and his perennial philosophy Using metaphors to make sense of non-duality (e.g. “hole in the cheese”) Position of the status of education in this country from the perspective of his perennial position (occupational oriented vs. wholeness as a person, process of individuation as children) Exile and Return Verifiability Wonder and the extraordinary beauty of life John Greer has spent nearly twenty years inquiring deeply into sacred texts and teachings of the world's traditions, spurred by his own spiritual search. He is a dedicated practitioner of meditation and has taught insight meditation for over a decade. John Greer holds a Ph.D. in education from Pennsylvania State University, and in three decades as a professor at the University of Memphis published numerous articles, co-authored several books on education and special education and was a recipient of the university's highest award for distinguished teaching. He also served for two years in Nepal with the Peace Corps and has traveled extensively on six continents. He lives with his wife in Memphis. To learn more about John Greer and his work, visit www.SeeingKnowingBeing.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: His continual journey of awakening 7 stages of consciousness Awakening inside and outside of a tradition Chasing experience “Feeling value” and its role in the process of awakening Personal and impersonal - changing focus Ethics and awakening - three folds of the ego Rising of the consciousness in our modern world David Buckland is a former IT consultant who lives on Vancouver Island in the temperate rain forest of SW Canada. He began his spiritual journey in the mid-70's. On a long retreat soon after, he began witnessing full time and refined perception clicked on with a bang. He has now been meditating and exploring consciousness for more than 40 years. Soon after awakening in 2007, he began writing online under the nickname "Davidya." The name and related blog (Davidya.ca) soon took on a life of its own. In 2011, he earned an MA in Vedic Science, studying Vedic literature, Sanskrit, and world religions. He has observed and spoken with many people having shifts in consciousness and has been working to synthesize historical understanding with modern experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Embodied nonduality – Judith’s definition of embodiment and nonduality Fundamental features of the Realization Process and the 2 main exercises (inhabiting the whole body and tuning into the subtle vertical channel) Her new book Trauma and the Unbound Body Realization Process techniques that contribute to trauma work Importance of inhabiting the body and the space of consciousness before releasing trauma Judith Blackstone, PhD, developed the Realization Process, a method of embodied psychological and relational healing and nondual spiritual awakening. She is the author of Trauma and the Unbound Body, Belonging Here, The Enlightenment Process, The Intimate Life, and The Empathic Ground. An audio series of the Realization Process is available from Sounds True. For information on Judith's teaching schedule, visit www.realizationprocess.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Commonality between mystical experiences Expressing difference vs. unity and our ability to communicate with each other; difference doesn’t exist without sameness New essentialism - what are the general ideas that allow us to speak from our various silos and communicate with each other Practitioner hat and the scholar hat (fetishization of the particular) Mysticism and neuroscience Spiritual basis of life expresses itself in multiple registers - physical, psychological, and metaphysical levels Meditation as the fundamental tool to discover these realms and experience Kenneth Rose, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, and emeritus professor of philosophy and religion at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. He teaches and publishes in the areas of comparative religion, comparative mysticism, religious pluralism, and the philosophy of meditation. He developed and lead the online course “Wisdom from World Religions,” which is supported by a Templeton World Charity Foundation grant (archived at https://radianceofawareness.com/course/). His degrees include an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and an M.A. and Ph.D. in the Study of Religion from Harvard University. At Harvard, he was a Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions. His books include Yoga, Meditation, and Mysticism: Contemplative Universals and Meditative Landmarks and Pluralism: The Future of Religion. Influenced as much by the Bhagavad Gītā as by Thomas Merton and the Buddha, Prof. Rose has engaged in a lifelong quest to understand and practice spirituality in light of the sublime mystical texts and practices in the world’s wisdom traditions. More information is available at amazon.com/author/kennethroseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Unless we transform the wounds of oppression in our own bodies and then by extension into our own embodied relationships with others...no amount of macro-sociological institutional legislative change will last because we keep producing the inequities at the grass roots levels.” In this episode, we discuss: Personal experience always emerges out of socio-economic context Importance of joining the personal with the professional Moving past oppressors vs. oppressed and finding a common ground about our pain Somatic literacy and illiteracy, cultivating somatic intelligence Not all yoga is somatic – feeling yourself from the inside out Rae Johnson, PhD, RSMT is a scholar/activist and registered somatic movement therapist who chairs the Somatic Studies in Depth Psychology doctoral program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. The author of several books – including Elemental Movement, Knowing in our Bones, and Embodied Social Justice – Rae teaches and trains internationally on embodied activism, somatic research methods, and the poetic body.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss: Ecodharma Being grounded through a spiritual practice as an activist 5 types of non-duality Interpreting history from a place of “lack” Placeholders we use in our culture to represent the sacred Importance of internal and external practices to manifest sustainable social change David R. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. His books include Nonduality: a study in comparative philosophy [originally published by Yale University Press]; Lack and Transcendence: the problem of death and life in psychotherapy, existentialism and buddhism [a second edition just released by Wisdom Publications] and Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis (forthcoming in January 2019). He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. In addition to offering academic lectures, workshops and meditation retreats, he is one of the founders of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. In June 2014, David received an honorary degree from Carleton College, his alma mater, during its 2014 Commencement. In April 2016 David returned his honorary degree, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel investments. To learn more about David’s books, his teachings, and his ecodharma retreat center, visit www.davidloy.org and rockymountainecodharmaretreatcenter.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An accomplished speaker, teacher and practitioner, Nikki Myers is an MBA,C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, AddictionsRecovery Specialist, and Certified Health Coach. Born from her personalstruggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, The Yoga of 12-StepRecovery. Based in its theme ‘the issues live in the tissues’, Y12SR is arelapse prevention program that weaves the art & science of yoga with thepractical tools of 12-step programs. Y12SR meetings are now availablethroughout the world and the curriculum is rapidly becoming a feature ofaddiction recovery treatment centers. Nikki’s work has been featured in theNew York Times, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Origin Magazine, andCBSnews.com. She is honored to be a co-founder of the annual Yoga,Meditation and Recovery Conferences at Esalen Institute and Kripalu Center.Nikki was named as a Yoga Journal Game Changer in 2015 and honored as arecipient of the esteemed NUVO Cultural Visionary Award in 2014.web: www.y12sr.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Bullard, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, has been practicing individual psychotherapy and couples therapy in San Francisco for over 30 years. He is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology (Psychiatry) at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was affiliated with the Human Sexuality Program and the Behavioral Medicine Unit, hosted international symposia on sexuality and medical conditions, and taught courses to medical students, nurses, interns, residents, faculty, therapists and other health care providers. He currently consults with the Symptom Management Service (which provides outpatient palliative care) at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a member of the Professional Advisory Group, Spiritual Care Services, Clinical Pastoral Education Program at UCSF. David is a guest teacher at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center and Green Gulch. David’s practice and teaching have been supported and deepened by exploring Bhutan with Dr. Robert Thurman; by advanced training in the trauma therapy, Somatic Experiencing®, in Brazil with Dr. Peter Levine; and by enjoying time in the west of Ireland with David Whyte and others in celebration of the poetry of the human soul.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bo Forbes is a clinical psychologist, embodiment guide, urban contemplative, and research collaborator in the science of well-being. Her paradigm-bending work explores the body as an essential part of transformation and the inextricable links between individual and collective well-being. Bo’s work is interdisciplinary, and integrates emerging research in science, psychology, somatics, and contemplative practice with decades of experience on the front lines of somatic education. Since the 1990’s, her experience in the field of trauma and social epigenetics has included inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, private practice, organizational consulting, somatic therapy, and scholarship. She has a unique perspective on embodiment: she works intimately with the body in relation to trauma, and has also experienced, written about, and spoken publicly about sexual assault and harassment. Her mother was a prisoner of war in World War II who between the ages of 7 and 12 was forced to march through Kenya, Uganda, and Siberia. And until the age of two, she lived with her parents on a Seneca reservation in New York before its destruction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; her master’s thesis focused on the bodily rituals of indigenous cultures. Bo co-teaches a course at Tufts University with colleague Kris Manjapra that focuses on colonialism, social justice, and the body. She is the founder of Embodied Awareness, an online education company, and teaches workshops and trainings internationally. She recently presented her work on interoception, connective tissue, and emotional health at the Fascia Research Congress in Berlin. She has written scholarly and lay articles for numerous leading magazines, and is the author of Yoga for Emotional Balance: Simple Practices to Help Relieve Anxiety and Depression and Her newest book on the science and practice of embodiment, is slated for publication in early 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.